Mikhail Vasilyevich Lyapunov (September 30, 1820 — November 20, 1868) was a Russian astronomer, teacher, and director of the Demidov Lyceum in Yaroslavl; he was the father of the mathematician Aleksandr Lyapunov, the composer Sergey Lyapunov, and the linguist Boris Lyapunov. He spent the last years of his life on his estate in Nizhny Novgorod Governorate, where he died.[1]
Scientific and Teaching Career
He came from a noble family. He received his primary education at the 1st Kazan Gymnasium and his higher education at the Faculty of Mathematics of Kazan University, from which he graduated in 1839 with the title of candidate and a silver medal. Immediately after graduating, he was sent to Saint Petersburg to receive astronomical instruments made in Munich for the Kazan Observatory.[1]
On his return to Kazan, he taught mathematics at the 2nd Kazan Gymnasium, and in 1840 he took up the newly created post of observer-astronomer at the Kazan University Observatory. In 1842, together with N. I. Lobachevsky and Knorr, he took part in an expedition to Penza to observe the total solar eclipse of June 26. That same year a fire damaged the observatory's instruments; Lyapunov was entrusted with delivering them for repair to the Pulkovo Observatory, where he remained until 1845. During this time he worked actively in astronomy under the guidance of leading astronomers, and took part in a chronometric expedition to determine the difference in longitude between Pulkovo and Altona, as well as in an expedition to determine geographic points in Russia.[1]
On returning to Kazan, he made observations with the meridian (Vienna) circle and with the refractor. In 1847 he was again sent to Pulkovo, to receive the Repsold meridian circle and deliver it to Kazan. From 1847 to 1851 he carried out observations to determine the positions of the stars of the Orion Nebula; the work was done in winter at low temperatures and was singled out for special mention in scientific reviews. In 1850 he was appointed head of the observatory and supervisor of students in their practical studies of astronomy. From 1852 to 1854 he observed stars in the zone from +20° to +24°, relating their positions to brighter stars determined at Pulkovo; this work remained unpublished.[1]
Disagreements with Kovalsky, the professor of astronomy, led to Lyapunov's resignation in 1855; at the same time he was elected a corresponding member of the university. From 1856 to 1864 he served as director of the Demidov Lyceum in Yaroslavl, where his son Aleksandr was born in 1857. Because of his health he retired and settled on his estate in Nizhny Novgorod Governorate.[1]
Scientific Publications
Lyapunov published a number of astronomical works, including: "Observations astronomiques, faites à l'Observatoire de l'Université Impérial de Kasan par Mr. Simonoff et par Mr. Lépounoff" (Kazan, 1842); and, jointly with V. Ya. Struve, "Positions du Soleil, de la Lune et des planètes" (Saint Petersburg, 1853) and "Observations de la nébuleuse d'Orion, faites à Cazan et à Poulkova" (Saint Petersburg, 1862). Articles of his also appeared in the "Astronomische Nachrichten" in 1846–1851.[1]
Nizhny Novgorod Connection
After retiring, Lyapunov settled on his estate in Nizhny Novgorod Governorate. He died there on November 20, 1868. Soon after his death, his family — his widow and three sons, Aleksandr, Sergey, and Boris — moved to Nizhny Novgorod, where Aleksandr graduated from the gymnasium and received the early mathematical education that became the foundation of his later scientific career.[1] In 2020, N. A. Pakshina, a researcher from Sarov, published the monograph "Mikhail Vasilyevich Lyapunov: A Biographical Sketch Against the Background of the Era."[2]
Sources
- ru.wikisource.org — RBS/VT/Lyapunov, Mikhail Vasilyevich — Wikisource
- search.rsl.ru — Pakshina, Natalya Alekseyevna (b. 1953). Mikhail Vasilyevich Lyapunov: A Biographical Sketch Against the Background of the Era: monograph / N. A. Pakshina. Sarov: Interkontakt, 2020.